From the Star Tribune:
BookSwim aims to be the "Netflix of books." Since 1998, Netflix has become the king of online DVD services by renting batches of DVDs via the mail for a fixed monthly fee, and letting subscribers keep the movies as long as they like.
That's how BookSwim is meant to work. For $15 to $20 per month, the company will send your top five book choices. Return three books in a prepaid envelope, and your next three choices will be mailed to you.
Reading this article made me realize that I truly have a problem -- I work in a library, have piles and piles of unread books at home, and yet this STILL seems like an attractive service*.
I am sick. Sick. Sick. Sick.
*Well, assuming that they expand their selection in a big way. Mostly I wish I could just start a book queue with our ILL librarian. Maybe I should talk to her about that.
[Later: Tried it. She just laughed at me.]
"Read More, Pay Less" or go to the friggin' library. It's free. What about that do people not get? Is it just the overdue fines? 'Cause they aren't that big a deal, and they are certainly less than $15-20 a month. Maybe it's the pressure of a due date.
Not that I'm biased. I just really want the receipts we give patrons to print: "You saved $52.95 today with your library card." Just like at the grocery store. Marketing, people.
Posted by: Jackie | 16 May 2007 at 03:43 PM
But though I too am simply DELUGED with books I have been saying for years that there should be a Netflix for books! I love libraries, but at my local branch of the NYPL the "new" books are literally a year and a half old, there's pretty much no hope of getting anything published in the previous six months let alone that month. However the way that books suffer wear & tear is not conducive to this sort of service taking off, nor is variety in readerly tastes. I imagine they will have a relatively limited selection, and that it's mostly for people who keep up with the new hardcover bestsellers & find this an economical way to do so? I would only pay that much monthly if I really could get any newish book I wanted, including obscure fantasy titles & YA...
Posted by: Jenny D | 16 May 2007 at 03:49 PM
I spend a fortune on books, I can't go past a bookstore and I can't leave one empty handed. I use Bookmooch, and I make regular (at least weekly) trips to my local library(where the librarians know me well enough that they sometimes offer me the loan of their personal books), and I still am pondering this service. What's a girl to do?
Posted by: jmfausti | 16 May 2007 at 04:07 PM
I took a very sniffy attitude to this the first time I heard about it because there is almost no book the Toronto Public Library can't provide. (Seriously. It's huge. OK, for really popular books it can take a while... on the other hand, you can often find those on the Best Bets shelf, and I don't read all that much new & hot fiction anyway.)
I can see the appeal though. Especially if I lived in a small town, I think I'd probably be very tempted.
Posted by: Electric Landlady | 16 May 2007 at 04:17 PM
I know what you mean. Piles of books around the house, but somehow the idea of more books is still hard to resist.
I had a gift/trial membership to a similar service called BooksFree.com. The same idea, but with paperbacks. They have quite a good selection, especially if you have older, relatively obscure titles that you want to read. I ended up canceling my membership because I found that the books weren't new enough and exciting enough to get my attention, but they nagged at me anyway (like library books do sometimes, but worse because I knew that I was paying for them).
Posted by: Jen Robinson | 16 May 2007 at 06:13 PM
Man, those are some great ideas-one, setting up an ILL version of Netflix/Netbooks. Surely the software wouldn't be that hard to set up-let the patron set up a queue and go from there.
I also like the idea of "you saved X amount today" on the check out receipt.
These things are less applicable to an academic library, but someone should do it in a public.
Posted by: Tim | 17 May 2007 at 08:33 AM
Hey everyone! Thanks for talking up online book rental and checking out BookSwim .
Some comments about comments:
Jackie- We're not trying to compete with libraries. Rather, we're trying to target avid readers who are perhaps unsatisfied by their local libraries. Maybe they live far from the library or they can't get to the library during normal hours (work, hectic schedules, etc.)Most importantly, maybe they cannot get what they want through ILL; the collection doesn't exist, and they seek an alternative.
Jenny- Unlike our main competitors, we offer a collection which includes hard and paperback. Select from 150,000 titles and growing. Moreover, we have a better shipping model: it's FREE for you, and you're never without something to read.
jmfausti- "What's a girl to do?" Girl, Check US OUTTT! www.bookswim.com.
We really do appreciate any commentary and feedback!
S. Negraval
Posted by: S. Negraval | 29 May 2007 at 01:20 PM